A little bit of a twist on the most delicious traditional treat Australians have shared with the world. Who would have thought spongecake, chocolate and coconut would be such a magical combination?
An Australian, that’s who 🙂
The spongecake is dense, but soft and rich, and when it melts onto your tongue along with the white chocolate, you melt right with it – just like any dessert should make you!
When friends come together, when family stays over and when there is a certain magic in the air as you hear ‘Love Actually’s’ soundtrack played on repeat in every store.
When snows falls in the north and the sun blazes in the south, when the summer solstice and winter solstice collide and when the songs of birds sound more melodious than ever.
When gift wrapped presents glint under trees, when Santas sell candy canes, furniture or booze and when many a Rudolph decorate the lawns of suburban houses.
Merry Christmas my friends, can you all believe the holiday season everyone dreams about is finally here for us 😀 😀 😀 😀
I hope you are all celebrating with family friends this joyous occasion of 2012, with lots of wonderful festivities, food and laughter 🙂
I wish I could be here with you all, and I promise to celebrate with you all belatedly but right now, I am with my family in India as I should be during this fabulous time 🙂
But no fear, no fear, I have some incredible guestposts lined up for you all and I hope each and every one brings a smile to your faces like they did mine – what else is Christmas and New Years about if not grinning? 😀
Happy Holidays!!!
P.S. I will not be commenting on ANY blogs for approximately 2 weeks so please do not think I have forgotten about anyone, I will be back on task straight after holidays 🙂
Goooood morning everyone, how are you all? Ok, I will dispense with the small talk considering I promised you no more guest posts for a while and you are glaring daggers at me but hear. me. out. I am not sure if you remember but a couple of weeks back, in August, I guestposted over at Cakewhiz- A Cake Geek’s Resource. Now, this blog is run by Abeer and if you have not heard of it already, I am sorry to say but I must remove that rock you have been living under 😉
I asked Abeer if some time, she would like to guest post one of her masterpieces one day here. Yes, I did say masterpiece because Ms Abeer is. an. absolute. artist. I do not even know where to begin with her decorating skills, baking and cooking skills and the fact that everything she makes could be put up on display in some high-flying location.
You know what? I like picnics. The more the I think about it, the more I enjoy its memories, present and past. Daydream about future picnic adventures too I suppose.
I love the idea that you have so much in one. There are so many fun elements to enjoy as part of the one. I love that you can never have too many, that it brings friends and family alike closer together. That it just brings a huge grin to your face in anticipation (at least, it does mine!)
Even though today is April Fool’s Day (Happy April Fool’s Day!) I am not fooling you when I say I baked up a little bit of a disaster two nights ago 😛
I am serious, I was almost cringing but in the end, masked it real fine 😀
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Meet my subconscious mind. Most of the time she is a happy person but has a tendency to get a little temperamental when it comes to things I really adore, such as chocolate (I think you got a little whiff of her dangerous side here)
The cake I was planning was to be a graduation present. I mean honestly, that is awesome right? Graduation and cake go together like apples and pie, chocolate and peanut butter, just as much as birthdays and cakes 😀
So while my conscious mind was getting all excited, I have come to believe my subconscious mind got pricked in the wrong spot.
“If this cake is a gift, that I means I do not get to eat it. Not happy. Not happy at all”
Churning out angry vibes…
Meanwhile, I am happily planning an extravagant over the top deal filled with deliciousness. So I come up with this plan
“Nooooooooooooo… I will not let her give away my cake, no, I want it. Two types of chocolate – NEVER!”
I collect ingredients, organise the bench and get to work…
“Eureka…..”
Ruins my cake – pre baking…
I do think now my subconscious mind thinks she is cleverer than my conscious mind. What she does not realise is all that bombardment of English analysis on my conscious mind does help in thinking outside the square when it comes to cooking… and now mistakes 😉
Back to the story…
I am happily making my chocolate batter, mixing melted butter and chocolate, attempting to not eat the packet of choc chips and fiercely keeping a spoon away from the batter.
No problems? Check
Beautiful devour-me batter? Check
Moving on to the white chocolate batter my subconscious mind comes in for a chinwag… not a jolly one either 😉
“You will add 2 eggs, not one”
I was making half of both mudcake recipes to layer them. The chocolate cake had 4 eggs. The white chocolate cake had 2. And I added 2 eggs to the batter made for 1 egg. And it got liquidy. Very very liquidy.
Before adding eggs…
I begin freaking out. Silently in my head while keeping a cool composure 😉
“Mwah hahahahahaha. Now the chocolate mudcake will be baked and all for me…”
So I work quick and randomly add in an extra 1/2-3/4 cup flour into the batter.
“What is going on….”
Dump in a couple of extra tbs caster sugar. Taste the batter and although I have no idea what the consistency should be like, I give it a shot anyhow because it tastes alright 🙂
In a greased-sugared Bundt tin, I pour the chocolate batter, add a tunnel of jam and then pour on the white chocolate batter.
The white chocolate batter engulfs the dark chocolate batter and I know there will not be any layering. And that the ‘natural’ swirling will not be a pretty sight.
“It will look too ugly to give… and I get a full cake – could this day get any better”
This is how my cake comes out. A patchy marbled mudcake complete with a jam swirl. Oh dear… My cake is bleeding…
Post refrigeration: The final step
Icing – I use white chocolate icing and drizzle it over. Ok not absolutely ugly anymore. Popped in some strawberries. Hmm…
“You are a perfectionist U, you won’t give something that looks so blah to anyone, save it for yourself [me] and relax…”
I needed some green – the strawberry leaves were pretty average and brown-green. No thanks. And then mummy dear swoops in for the win. “Why not colour some icing green and do a design on top of the white?”
“No, no, noooooooooooooooooooooooo” – Defeated subconscious mind…
And that is what I did. And it actually made a very, um, mistakable cake, quite presentable as a graduation cake. Taste? Obscenely delicious reviews all round 😀
Conscious mind: Uno
Subconscious mind: Zero
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Honestly here is what I learnt from all my baking mistakes
Always into self improvement my friends!
Marbled Jam Swirled Mudcake
Anyhow, so you know what this cake was meant to be all about. Here is how I would make it now if I wanted it to look pretty sans icing 😉
To swirl
Sorry I took a bite out but just look at that crumbiness!
This recipe was a keeper – it was soft, moist and the two mudcake flavours complement each other considerably while the jam surprise in some bites is awesome! Of course the icing too is a killer 😀
Enjoy mes amis! I look forward to properly trying this cake again one day 😉
P.S Thank you Heidi (@ The Young Grasshopper) for awarding me with the Versatile Blogger award – it is much appreciated 😀 – I will be posting about it next time 🙂 – Thanks again my friend!
44. Nothing Is What It Seems – Slimy Cupcakes
23rd November 2011
Today at school, we made some cupcakes. They were small, cute and utterly delicious to those who adore peppermint (Je le deteste, c’est vrai!) but even with the fresh minty aftertaste, I didn’t mind licking the batter bowl!
But there are a couple of reasons of why nothing was what it seemed with these cupcakes – off leading, slightly upsetting and downright weird! For one thing, the icing – the Shrek green icing was a vanilla buttercream! When I see green, I see mint, but the icing bowl was my haven! Secondly and obviously then, the mini rich chocolate cupcakes were filled with pepper mint essence, which was totally not expected either!
Another thing which may have put a person off was the icing – see, my partner and I are a little impatient – anyone who is a true baker knows the difficulty of waiting during cooling time, fingers itching to slice up the cake and gobble! So, we thought that waiting 10 minutes was quite respectful so we started to ice. And the icing starting to melt. This led to the most delicious slime ever…
Actually Written: 24th September 2011
YAY, another birthday baking bash! Ok so, TT, she is one of the closest friends I
could ask for. And since I know her pretty well, I know of her love for Oreos.
Oreo this and that, there is nothing that compares to a good Oreo for her
(except maybe Caramel Cake…)
Anyway, I decided, since there is a cupcake theme going on for my birthday baking
(slightly!) to make her this Oreo cupcakes with a much trusted recipe from much
trusted Annie Eats!
Go Bake Yourself 
